Engineering Exchange Site Reaches 6K Members

Hanging out and monitoring the site today, we just hit member number 6,000 active on the Engineering Exchange. Typically we might celebrate at a number like 1oK, but I thought it was worth a post – here’s why.

Taken with our Linkedin Groups, Facebook fans, and Twitter Followers our direct social media community comes to over 12,000. Add in our MCAD Central/ CAD Community of dedicated engineers and CAD professionals the number shoots to over 80,000 members exchanging info, ideas and knowledge. Our total active online user base exceeds 120,000 opt in subscribers and continues to grow at a rapid pace.

So my original post celebrating 6,000 active Engineering Exchange members, is really a celebration of online growth, social media, and new technology enabling people to communicate, engage, and educate themselves in what I have to refer to as the ‘groundswell’.

I’m really looking forward to the iPad, but not as a publisher desperate to have a piece of hardware save me from a failing business model. The thing is reported to have a good web browser- no surprise- and as we  have built a solid online business model from day 1, the iPad, mobile phones and a any number of computing devices will simply augment the direction we’re all heading. Sure it will be nice to have custom publisher apps and look forward to that development to supercede the clunky page-turning digital editions, but for now, that web browser and mobility is more key. This should enable even more online growth just as the iPhone triggered an explosion of ‘mobile’ access to the web, most notably in the US.

Finally, print remains a core means to tie together the online and lead generation activities important in any marketing mix. I find it interesting that as I monitor inbound web traffic real-time to our network of sites, the search terms of company name, specific product (new or replacement) and brand dominate much of the search terms. There is a lot of room to keep branding alive in print, tied with informative editorial, and cross linking online campaigns to reach your audience.